The Civil War

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Makeshift hospitals for the wounded, private homes turned into battle headquarters, and more memorials than one can count - a wide variety of structures and sites were either directly affected by the Civil War, or later built in commemoration of it. And not surprisingly, as the caretaker of America's treasures, including battlefields and military parks, hundreds of the sites that still remain are today located within the National Park System.

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Gettysburg National Military Park

In all of the analyses of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most important actors in the drama remains silent and unnoticed. The geology and topography of the land itself profoundly influenced the battle, from the hills forming the Union "fishhook" line, to the rocks which hampered movement and provided cover. Devil's Den illustrates this point most clearly. Read more

Richmond National Battlefield Park

In the spring of 1862, a Union flotilla of gunboats, including the famed USS Monitor, advanced up the James River, with only one Confederate fortification between them and the Confederate capital. The fate of Richmond lay in the hands of the defenders at Drewry's Bluff. Read more

Dry Tortugas National Park

Fort Jefferson, the largest all-masonry fort in the United States, was built between 1846 and 1875 to protect the nation's gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. During the Civil War, it was used as a Federal prison primarily for Union deserters, though in 1865 three of the Lincoln conspirators were imprisoned within its walls. Read more

Fort Point National Historic Site

Although the popular imagination does not usually associate California with the Civil War, the U.S. military did have a number of strategic fortifications here, such as Fort Point. Many Californians returned East to fight, and society in California was divided. After the war, many Confederates sought a new start far from the devastation they had witnessed during the war. Read more